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Topic Review (Newest First)

01-02-2012 09:27 PM

Capt Len

Big help is to insure carb is for/aft with fire pot.Uphill and downhill when heeling will dampen your enthusiasm. Took a while to learn its idiosyncrasyies but my Dickinson has been great for 25 years. Just don't turn it too low.

01-02-2012 06:49 PM

jackdale

Diesel stoves work well on any boat that does not heel (much). Because they are not gimballed they do not work well on most monohulls.

01-02-2012 06:25 PM

catandahalf

diesel stove/heater...

This looks like a dead discussion but I'm sure that someone other than me is cold....
I bought my boat with propane installed (she is a 1967 nicole trimaran - cedar strips over a light frame and (now) covered in west marine epoxy and glass... I have had boats with alcohol, wood (pellet) and propane heaters before Ceil... all of them have issues but the common theme is 'wet'. All these fuels dump water into your cabin. No way around it, it's part of what they are and do. When I bought Ceil I decided to try a diesel stove and bought a wallas diesel. I decided to try it because it functions both as a cook-top AND as a forced air heater... the forced air part is important because it means that the hot air is blown into the cabin, not just over the heater. In addition, the diesel is completely isolated from the cabin air - the stove vents all combustion out an insulated through-hull (above the waterline) so you don't EVER get a diesel smell. It works really well and when I did need service they (Scanmarine) were very helpful. The cook-top works great (though I do use a small propane if I am just boiling coffee water as it heats up faster) for most cooking purposes.

06-29-2011 05:41 PM

Markathishome

Oops forgot to mention, These types burn the fuel completely so if you get soot, you have an installation or user problem. Under normal use there is NO visible smoke output from the exhaust.

06-29-2011 05:39 PM

Markathishome

Diesel stoves and heaters are not all preheated. Look at Wallas, Webasto and Eberspacher. They are electronic with enclosed burners - on a different planet to the Dickensen style. Wallas have the best reputation for reliability and have a cooktop that can have a heater blower accessory added. All these brands have outside exhausts and enclosed burners so if you smell diesel ffuel, you have a leak. If you smell fumes, you have put your exhaust in the wrong place. They are safe to use overnight as long as there are no exhaust leaks. These types are also very efficient and are not dangerous.

06-15-2009 10:36 PM

Sailormann

Quote:

By the way, do diesel furnace/stoves make the boat smell of diesel? Not having encountered one yet, I can't sniff things out.

I don't know about the new ones but the old diesel heaters and stoves used to smell a lot and they throw off a lot of soot. Even if you are okay with the constant blackening of your boat and sails, your neighbours might not be.

So, one of my issues is should I buy a vanilla boat with no heater and, if so, what heater do I choose? Or should I just get a boat with a heater and, if so, should it be diesel or propane? Or should I buy propane and replace it with diesel? I can't seem to find a boat with a diesel heater so the option of replacing a diesel with propane hasn't presented itself.
.

I see that no-one has mentioned the Wallas Marin stoves. I have a two-burner with a fan-equipped lid that turns it into a heater. Keeps my 26-footer toasty warm in winter. It has a ceramic top and an enclosed (airtight) combustion chamber, and the vent hose runs aft to the stern. You get a brief amount of diesel odour when it starts - opening the companionway seems to take care of that - but otherwise produces no odour inside the cabin. At $2800 CDN the initial outlay is significant, but the operating costs are low. I think Wallas also produces a version with an oven.

03-17-2009 01:30 PM

sailingdog

Wimp... you don't need heat for temps down into the 50s... A good sleeping back and polarfleece will take care of temps that warm...

That's exactly the kind of boat I'm looking at, and in exactly the same location too, so I'm particularly interested in your wintering experiences.

Ok, I didn't know this. I hadn't considered water heating. Gah, another variable to consider.

Question: Do you find that the balsa cored hull on the Niagara helps reduce condensation and keep heat in?

I did not move onboard until I got my Bristol and am living on it in NYC which is noticeably warmer than Toronto - about 6C warmer on average for the year. I quite like the Paloma although they are getting pretty old now and they do not make them for boats anymore (someone else does make a propane water heater). Most boats with hotwater have a miniature version of a household heater that gets heat either from 110v or from engine heat.

My Bristol does not have cored hull. I think that the Niagara with a cored hull would be better for condensation. We have lined most lockers with the silver bubble paper that you can get at Home Depot and elsewhere. That has helped but condensation is a problem.

The cored hulls should be fine unless holes have been drilled into the core and bedding has not been kept up. This is most likely the case if the boat has a rub rail attached (not very common on Mk 1 Niagaras but common on Encores). Both the CS and Niagara have cored decks and make sure you do not large amounts of wet core here unless the price reflects this since it is a costly repair. Wet core is very common because there are so many holes through the core for deck fittings. Minor wet areas are not too hard to fix but the price should still reflect this. You may be able to find a boat where the deck has been repaired properly.